Epitaxially-grown silicon has many applications. For instance, epitaxially-grown silicon can be incorporated into elevated source/drain regions of transistor devices. A problem that can be encountered in utilizing epitaxially-grown silicon is that an upper surface of the epitaxially-grown material can be curved, which can complicate further processing.
It would be desirable to develop methods by which curvature could be removed from an upper surface of epitaxially-grown silicon to flatten the upper surface.
In another aspect of the prior art, trenched regions are commonly utilized in semiconductor fabrication. For instance, trenched isolation regions are frequently utilized to electrically isolate adjacent transistor devices associated with a semiconductor substrate.
The trenched regions are typically openings (trenches) extending into a semiconductor material and filled with an appropriate material (such as, for example, an electrically insulative material for trenched isolation regions). It can be difficult to uniformly fill the openings under particular conditions, such as, for example, when the critical dimension of the openings is high. It would therefore be desirable to develop new methods of forming trenched regions.